Marine captain charged with rape

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- A U.S. Marine captain stationed in California has been charged with committing rape while he was on leave in 2007 to attend law school.

Capt. Douglas Wacker, 30, was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

The newspaper said officials at Camp Pendleton issued a news release on the arraignment, an unusual step. Wacker's lawyer, Haytham Faraj of Alexandria, Va., accused them of using the case to show they are concerned about sexual assault, while officials said they publicized the charges because it is unusual for an officer to be named as a rape suspect.

Faraj said there was no rape, that Wacker had engaged in consensual sex with other University of San Diego law students during a spring-break visit to New Orleans. The university cleared him of misconduct but is withholding his degree pending the court-martial.